This species occurs in North America (Canada and United States) from Alaska to Labrador (Chubbs and Phillips 1998), south to New Jersey, northern Georgia and northern Idaho; it has a spotty distribution south to northern Colorado in Rocky Mountains, there are also disjunctive sub-populations in Arkansas-Missouri (Conant and Collins 1991, Stebbins 2003). It ranges farther north than any other North American amphibian.

It occurs in various kinds of forest/woodland habitats; edges of ponds and streams; also willow thickets and grass/willow/aspen associations. When inactive, it hides in logs, humus, leaf-litter or under logs and rocks. Eggs are laid and larvae develop usually in small fish-free ponds, temporary or permanent, in wooded (usually) or open areas. In the Shenandoah Mountains, breeding adults were 100% faithful to the ponds in which they first bred; approximately 18% of the juveniles dispersed to breed in ponds other than the one of origin (Riha and Berven 1991). Experiments and field observations by Hopey and Petranka (1994) indicate that adults are able to assess the presence of fishes in ponds and may change breeding sites accordingly to avoid those with predatory fishes. In northern Minnesota, successful reproduction in acidic bog water either does not occur or is a rare event (Karns 1992).

Blackburn, L., Nanjappa, P. and Lannoo, M.J. 2001. An Atlas of the Distribution of U.S. Amphibians. Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA.

Chubbs, T.E. and Phillips, F.R. 1998. Distribution of the wood frog, Rana sylvatica, in Labrador: an update. Canadian Field-Naturalist: 329-331.

Collins, J.T. 1990. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians and reptiles, 3rd edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles: Herpetological Circular: 1-41.

Conant, R. and Collins, J.T. 1991. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians: Eastern and Central North America. Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts.